BUDDHA IN THE MUD is a blog – a living book based on the Dzogchen teachings. Our teacher is life, and life is karma. We are all Buddhas in the mud of concepts.

Interfering With Nature

Nature is highly adaptable.
We are nature and, as such, are highly adaptable,
with innate qualities of
purity*, consciousness** and compassion***.
This is our essential nature.

When – through ignorance – we interfere with these three qualities,
they transform into like, dislike and indifference.
This is our gross nature.

In becoming dependent, we have lost the ability to see and taste for ourselves; we judge by something we’ve read or heard, and just repeat that.

When we’re independent, we are one with nature, the universe and beyond. ‘Beyond’ is uncontaminated consciousness.

Working against that which is natural, we interfere with nature and become gods. We abuse nature with our cleverness, which will have consequences.

Our innate, essential qualities will, however, always dawn. What looks down the microscope?

Whatever we do in space, space does not change.
Whatever we do in consciousness, consciousness does not change.
Space and consciousness are the constants in the universe.
Be clear about that.

* purity: free of contamination
** consciousness: ability to know
*** compassion: ability to empathise

Compassion Is Responsibility That Challenges Old Brain

Compassion is the result of understanding our true reality, which understands our old ideas. Empathy is the measure of understanding. If we haven’t seen the effect of trauma on our life, how can we help others? Trauma can be extremely subtle; statements such as “Be a good boy/girl” and “Do as you’re told” shape our fears and hopes, which can have tremendous consequences in later life.

It doesn’t matter how learned we think we are or how high our practice is, unconditional compassion includes everyone. It’s not limited to some material or spiritual ideology.

Empathetic compassion realises that we all learn at different rates,
and have limited ability to cope.

Compassion negates arrogance.
Arrogance negates compassion.

Compassion has consequences.
A lack of compassion has consequences.

Whether we sit on a high throne or an ordinary cushion,
we all have old brain to deal with.
Old brain = self.

Stop Looking For Enlightenment

Stop looking for enlightenment:
looking is facing in the opposite direction.

That which is looking is already enlightened; it is pure consciousness. That is what we actually are, but this has to be uncovered through the practical practice of facing our obsessions that obscure pure seeing. This is same as seeking happiness which, on investigation, relies on the ‘right’ conditions, when our true being is already unconditionally happy – a happiness that doesn’t rely on conditions.

Even in spirituality, we can be materialistic,
always attached to the trimmings.

Complete enlightenment has no karma, no residue of opinions, no bias or side. Through an honest understanding of this, we can gauge how we are doing. We can, through our conduct, have empathetic compassion for others while still experiencing a residue of the past. This is the practical way to establish and gain confidence in our true reality. No karma means no rut 🙂

If we are seduced by the spectacular, interesting and clever, we have entered the realm of Mara, a subtle, demonic existence. This realm knows our heart’s desire, and turns it into mind’s desires.

When we know the complete truth,
we know who isn’t telling the complete truth.

Being On Top Of The World

Being on top of the world is knowing what drives everything and everyone. We are surrounded by negative emotions of likes & dislikes, pleasant & unpleasant, hopes & fears, attraction & repulsion; these forces can either drive us insane, or lead to wisdom and enlightenment. How? In the very first moment of perception, consciousness is pure and clear, unencumbered by ideas, memories, judgements and fixations – “The eyes in our head see the world spinning round.”

When stepping out of our front door – and before we decide whether it is warm or cool – there has to be just perception present. That moment, ever now, is pure consciousness. That is our home, our sane space.

This knowledge of consciousness is neutral, and just is. No one created it. Neutral knowledge can either lead us to want to rule the world (and we can all see that in action) or, through meditation, can transcend knowledge into wisdom and compassion, where we realise that we are already on top of the world 😀

This is the secret of being happy in unhappiness, although the results of karma still have to be exhausted. We don’t need pleasure in life: we need a purpose, and that is knowing the truth about everything.

The secret:
three negative emotions of desire, aversion and ignorance bind us.
These, in truth, are the three wisdoms
of emptiness, consciousness and compassion that free us.

First moment = emptiness.
Second moment = judgement.
Third moment = always refer to the first moment 🙂

Rather than judging, imposing and destroying,
we see and accommodate.
That is wisdom.

Fake Gurus, Real Gurus And Reliable Gurus

A fake* guru tells us what we want to hear = something interesting.
A real guru tells us what we already know = “Is that all?”
A reliable* guru is our self-karma = it’s with us all the way.

Fake gurus say something different.
Real gurus say something familiar.
Reliable gurus show us how it is.

This why the enlightened say,
“Do not take my word for it; see for yourself.

Gurus tell us all sorts of things, but what matters is that which is listening.
When karma has gone, self has gone, and we have gone beyond

We are the authority.
Beware of giving it away too readily.

*Fake: an imitation.a mask
*Reliable: consistently good in quality or performance; able to be trusted, dependable, good, well founded, well grounded, authentic, definitive, attested, valid, genuine.

If a conversation revolves around hearsay, we are engaging with a mask, with cliches, theories and idealogical platitudes, and there is no communication.

If there is genuine, empathetic give-and-take, and a meaningful conversation ensues, then we are talking to the actual person who is familiar with their own trauma.

Whether we like ourself or not,
it is our path to enlightenment – or hell.
😀

What are we, when we are not addicted to ideas?

Turning Heart’s Desire Into Mind’s Desire

This is what demonic minds do; they turn our pure heart into the desire of mind and body, diverting us from realising our enlightened essence (which is the same enlightened essence of everyone else). It’s done subtly by playing on our hopes and fears, and we become distracted.

We need to bring mind back on track constantly. Our heart’s desire is goodwill towards everyone, with a wish to share inner peace, contentment and wisdom with others.

But what happens? We get carried away with fame and gain, and we lose inner sanity. We lose good intention. The internet is full of clever, charismatic ‘influencers’ who turn our minds to this and that, but divert our attention subtly away from pure essence of consciousness. They make it into an institution, and engender partisanship – our group is better then your group.

And the true heart that we had at the beginning goes out of the window! We thought that whatever we did would benefit everyone but alas, it only benefits the group.

We become hooked on the feelings of our mind and body. Whatever we see or hear etc arouses us, and we’re carried away. Our demonic side knows our weaknesses before we are aware of them; the brain ‘lights up’ in a similar way to brand-awareness, and our sub-conscious is aroused before we are even aware of this arousal. Anyone who takes advantage of others’ gullibilities uses this process.

What we do not notice is that the senses are, in fact, non-conceptual. In the first instant, we weren’t carried away – consciousness merely perceived. We may assume (incorrectly) that, because something is seen or heard, thinking is present. Not at all. In that moment, which is now, nothing is going on but pure perception, pure consciousness … and we miss it every time.

When it is acknowledged that the senses are non-conceptual,
the mind is non-conceptual
and consciousness is non-conceptual.

That is the pure, inner peace and happiness that we seek.
We, as pure consciousness, are non-conceptual
That is our good heart.
Take it back.

There Is Always A Problem To Solve

The dictionary may say that a problem is something unwelcome; that’s not so. A problem is a moment of inquiry starting from a given condition to investigate natural laws, thereby resolving that problem. It’s quite inspiring and exhilarating – a eureka moment!

Knowing is joy.
Not knowing is ignorance.
Believing is nonsense.

People are a problem; they too need investigating 🙂 Investigating the laws that govern people is truly illuminating as they are the same laws that govern us as an individual. The great secret to it all is that we can know the ultimate reality of those laws. If we go deep enough, we realise that we are those laws!

“Only those who risk going too far
can possibly find out how far one can go.”
T.S Elliot

We have become judgemental reactionaries because of the laws that govern us; from that standpoint, we see everything as a problem. There are three gross, negative emotions or laws that influence our behaviour: desire, aversion and indifference. Just look and see. We usually jump in and judge, before noting that there is simply consciousness present which has gone unnoticed. That’s the problem that causes us to see problems everywhere, and it is because of this imbalance that nothing gets resolved.

On an ultimate level, these same three gross negative emotions are wisdom laws. In Buddhism, these are known as ’emptiness’, ‘consciousness’ and ‘compassion’. The word ’emptiness’ indicates the uncontaminated quality of consciousness, and consciousness that is naturally aware has compassion through understanding of these three qualities. We lack compassion only because we misunderstand our true nature, which is pure, compassionate consciousness.

Desire downgrades Emptiness:
Emptiness is our pure state, but desire contaminates this pure space.

Aversion downgrades Consciousness:
When consciousness forgets its purity, it judges and creates likes and dislikes that separate us from others.

Indifference downgrades Compassion:
Through judgement, consciousness lacks empathy and thus we remain divided.

The moment we recognise the negative emotions,
the wisdoms arise.

Don’t get angry.
Get even … get balanced!
😀

Our Mind Has Been Hacked

hacked: from Old English, haccian – ‘cut in pieces’

If we do not see this,
we have been hacked
😀

A.I. can understand us better than we do. It can predict decisions and choices, and therefore manipulate, shifting our authority to another. We have already gone from human intelligence to algorithm intelligence.

Our mind is like a jigsaw where many pieces are missing. We don’t have a complete picture to refer to, so we go with whatever we have, drifting from one mental trauma to another.

We are not as free as we assume. Our decisions do not reflect free will. Free will is an illusion. Decisions reflect biological and cultural factors that manage our programming, but we still believe that we have free will.

The easiest people to manipulate are the people who believe that they have free will. They consider that nobody can manipulate them and, once they are established in their illusion, they lose all curiosity and suspicion about where their desires come from. They think that they just reflect personal freedom.

Our desires reflect cultural standards that are not under our control. As in a magic trick, we get to shuffle the cards, and then the magician gives us their version.

Corporations and governments are using technology to generate and control human desires. If we think that we have free will that reflects our desires, we are already a slave to the artificial intelligence.

When we realise our true nature
– which is pure consciousness –
we see foolishness everywhere.
This foolishness has managed humanity for a very long time.

Our mind has been cut to pieces and reset in others’ image.
If we didn’t see it coming, we weren’t looking.

The complete picture is pure consciousness
which sees whatever is obscuring that pure consciousness.

Don’t Be Surprised

If we are prepared, we can see ‘it’ coming. Everything follows cycles, and history does repeat itself.

Whatever someone says, it can have the opposite effect, and it’s meant to.
If we’re surprised, we were not prepared.

Conspiracies are created to hide the conspiracies.
Don’t be naive and surprised.

Did they land on the moon or not? It’s possible that they both landed on the moon and also created the scenario in a studio. Think that couldn’t happen? The landing was a political statement to show superiority, and the photos were important to prove success. Cameras don’t always work, so backup footage could be needed, just in case, and offer a plausible justification for the setup. Can secrets be kept? Of course, if the incentive and pressure is great enough – and people could sign an NDA or an official secrets act.

Now the added bonus: we know that confusion creates theories, leading to more confusion. Don’t be naive and surprised. Don’t take sides, as some things we will never know. And people forget, as more deceptions are on their way.

If people are confused and divided, anything can be achieved. Don’t be surprised at strange bed-fellows (those closely connected who meet in secret). Big business and politics are inseparable bed-fellows … scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. But at what price?

1. 1. “Alas, the storm is come again!
   1. My best way is to creep under his gaberdine;
   1. there is no other shelter hereabout:
   1. misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows.”

   William Shakespeare:
   

   1. “

   The Tempest” 1610

                                              When we realise the reality game,
– that we can be persuaded to believe anything –
wisdom arises.

                                               The only reality is consciousness:
everything else is either a teaching, or fodder for the herd.

Looking For Teaching Or For A Guru?

There is something within that is not satisfied:
is it looking for a personality, or for an understanding?

We look for the teaching when, in reality, we are the very essence of the teaching.
We look for a guru, when we are unsure about the essence of the teaching.

Are we attracted to the teaching or to the guru?
Devotion to the teacher is Bhakti yoga (guru yoga).
Devotion to the truth is Jnana yoga (wisdom).
‘Yoga’ means ‘union’.

Guru devotion becomes a cult, a culture, a lifestyle.
Wisdom is realisation in everything that we do.

It doesn’t matter what we do, it is the effect that counts.
Are we empathetic towards others,
or do we avoid and ignore them in favour of our cult?

The teaching tells us what we already know, but were unaware of.
The guru tells us that we are unaware, and that there are things we need to know.

Which one sets you free?

Know when spirituality turns political,
from teachings to an organised charity to support another’s culture.

Don’t Focus On The Deceptions

Don’t focus on the deceptions:
focus on that which sees the deceptions.

That is where the truth lies:
it’s not in recognising the deceptions.

From an ultimate point of view,
everything is a deception:
as such, when recognised, everything is enlightening!

We are served up deceptions day after day, reinforcing fears and hopes while ignoring all-seeing-consciousness. Distractions are tricks of deception, and we fall for them every time. We know we’re being deceived, but this deception becomes our entertainment.

The very obvious disfunctionality of governments is in full view and plain for all to see. We react and form ‘our’ opinions, enabling all the scheming to seem real. As long as we keep reacting, the delicious show will continue to be be served up. We won’t realise that we’re getting indigestion, and we seek relief in the display of more distractions. None of it is news – it’s propaganda-programming, and more and more people are being banned from saying anything different to the deceivers’ narrative.

From an ultimate point of view,
everything is a deception
as such, when recognised, everything is enlightening!

True Communication

Communing is a transmission of inner peace with another,
through just being aware.

We realise that everyday chit-chat gets us nowhere, and only ends up with division. What may be nourishment for one person is bitter poison to another. It’s all speculation, gossip, hearsay, history, geography and sentimental nostalgia, and it’s what we all do; we go round in circles, repeating the same words.

Repeating others’ comments
isn’t what we know:
it’s what they know.

In truth, once we realise this charade, then one person’s bitter poison is another’s nourishment, meaning that what others shy away from reminds us of the effect of fears and hopes, and we are free.

Genuine communication comes in silent appreciation of another’s true qualities. There is an open atmosphere of good company, where we come together in recognition. Being aware and quietly resting in deep relaxation is meditation. We can only know something when we just perceive, without constant judgement.

Sit still and upright.
Notice the breath, and stay focused on the breath.
This cuts through wandering thoughts and speculation.
It brings about peace.

Gradually, we become aware of the awareness that is noticing the breath. This is the next stage; being aware of being aware. That awareness is none other than consciousness. That is what we are. It’s not a thing that we can speculate about – it just is. This consciousness is what all creatures are, but they are too occupied or self-absorbed to notice.

The next stage is realising that, when we are aware of this consciousness, there is nothing else. We cannot find anything more – and that is what is called ’emptiness’. This is the uncontaminated experience and realisation that consciousness is pure.

That is our true reality, and the ability to commune with and be at one with everything. It’s pure, simple and uncomplicated, and this is what philosophers don’t get. Once we realise this perfect state, we can then recognise anything that obscures it because we know the world and its contrivances.

Meditate, and make the most of life.
When the teaching is put to the test, everything is amusing.
“… There they go again, and they think we don’t notice! … ”

Life is not pointless.
It’s enlightening.

Measuring Consciousness

Consciousness is the same in all sentient beings as it is awareness, and we have to be aware to be alive. Consciousness is present before a decision is made.

This consciousness can be measured by the amount of self-promotion that is present, indicated by how much an ‘I’ is mentioned.

The inner quality of purity in consciousness can also be measured by the amount of empathy and compassion that is present, indicated by how little an ‘I’ is mentioned.

There is a gross consciousness, a subtle consciousness and an extremely subtle consciousness. Gross – our everyday decision making, requiring a constant duality.
Subtle – awareness of awareness, requiring a constant duality.
Extremely subtle – there is no awareness of awareness; there is just awareness, just pure consciousness, which is a constant non-duality.

Measuring consciousness is either measuring a self-identity or measuring the release from a self-identity.

“All that glitters is not gold.”
There are people who may look shiny and bright,
but who are incomplete in their realisation.

Beauty on the surface – like gold – is often deceptive,
but gets lots of clicks!

What Is Happiness?

Happiness is realising the truth about ourselves and reality.
Those who really know what they are and what their place is
are really happy, and on their way
to being liberated from suffering and misery.

Is Our Life Our Own?

Is our life our own, or are we living through A.I. machines?
A.I. does not take responsibility for the decisions that we make.
We should be wary concerning the direction in which our life is heading.

Our life essence is pure consciousness; that is our power.
When we give this power away, we have to accept
that we are no longer in charge of our lives.

Now that A.I. is coming to replace what we do, what will we do?
Science considers consciousness to be merely a decision maker,
and that machines can do this faster, and will never tire.

Scientists think that they can put consciousness into A.I.
The creative crazies have totally misunderstood consciousness.

If anything can inspire us to know our self before a machine does, this is it.

Why Does This Blog Keep Going?

This blog should stop as there is far too much on it 🙂 but disruptive forces keep being brought to our attention. If we’re not being told the absolute truth, then we are being lied to. It’s that simple.

All media promotes some aspect of life that deviates from the truth. It merely entertains and disturbs. Even the spirituality of consciousness can be dressed up to separate us from what we are.

All spiritual teachings are about our mind and consciousness, rather than someone else’s.

The torment happening to people can make us incredibly angry, but this energy may be channelled through meditation, and a synthesised expression arises.

Just have a nibble to get the flavour.
😀

How Do We Protect Ourselves From Manipulation?

Know the complete picture.

Certain forms of meditation make us feel good, calm and clear,
so that we can function better than before.

This is not the complete picture of our reality.
It is a dualistic, physical sensation – and not what meditation is for.

For complete protection, we need to realise that we are pure consciousness.
Once we know this, we never again have to believe.

The world promotes the idea of health and safety,
wrapping us up in restrictions for our protection.

The effect of using the the words “health and safety” creates fear … clever!
That is the subtle manipulation that focuses our attention away from our true reality.

Through proper meditation,
we can prove that our function in life is to realise the truth.

Never take anyone’s word for the truth; test it for yourself.
Who or what is doing this testing? Pure consciousness.

Pure consciousness cannot be destroyed.
It can merely be distracted – even by meditation.

Science Thinks Consciousness Is Just A Decision Maker

This is the reason why some scientists think that A.I. machines can have consciousness. If they can persuade us that consciousness is just a decision maker, we will never bother to look any further into our true reality.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive …”

When we do not know the complete picture, we invent one, initiating a domino effect of problems where complications arise which eventually run out of control, making us even more reliant on scientists.

The science of discovery is a wonderful thing but, like knowledge, it can be abused.

Machines have no empathetic, compassionate insight.
They merely follow rules.

The corollary of this is that,
if we merely follow rules and lack empathetic, compassionate insight,
we are already acting like machines.
🙂

The Pursuit Of Wisdom

The word ‘pursuit’ is misleading as it indicates looking for something, and that turns us away subtly from our reality – the actual seeing.

As long as we are looking, we will forget seeing.
It is the unbiased seeing, before we take sides, that is the author of wisdom.
Once seeing is recognised, we drop it so as to not contaminate that seeing with judgements.
Wisdom is the silence of pure knowingness, pure awareness, pure consciousness.
We are the wisdom that we seek.

Free speech is necessary, as it tells us who the idiots are 🙂 We all know when someone’s trying to influence us, as there is always a crack in their rhetoric. They want us to believe them, and belief turns us away from the truth that we are already the wisdom that we seek.

This is the same as ‘the pursuit of happiness’. Pursuit means ‘following after’, and this takes the edge off pure experience; we are already quite content as pure consciousness. If we didn’t know that we are already happy and wise, how would we recognise that happiness and wisdom? ‘Recognition’ means to know again, to remember.

The mischief in the world looks like truth, but is deliberately incomplete.
As long as we are looking, we will never realise that which is seeing.

God Is Merely Our Pure Consciousness

God is merely our pure consciousness.
Heaven is our very essence.

There is nothing out there that’s not here!

Why would anyone create God out there? The answer is that humans are easily led to believe and become addicted, creating dependency on God’s prophets, advisors and spokesmen. We are all suckers for a good story, as it entertains the mind. There you go – the deviation, the misdirection, the slight of hand.

Claims that “God spoke to me” or “God is acting through me” makes the claimant appear special; sometimes an organisation needs a figure head to bring people together.

In truth, we are all special to the extent that we are ordinary. We are enlightened essence, pure consciousness, but we look elsewhere for our reality. By making a thing or a person holy – something that we have to believe in – we make anyone who does not believe into an evil in that society. They are a disbeliever.

There is always a crack in the believers’ narrative that does not make sense. Religion is anything to which we bind ourselves, and can enhance either spiritual realisation or political coercion through hierarchies that exploit the divisions between people. The issue of religion is extremely important because it affects the entire world – including the world of the non-believers.

Absolute consciousness needs nothing. It just is. What we then do is down to both our understanding and our skilful means.

Creation is a natural occurrence in the universe due to the three laws of attraction, repulsion and indifference that we fall under, through ignorance. Our absolute nature is pure, compassionate consciousness that transcends these laws. It all depends on whether we choose the red or blue pill – the choice between the willingness to learn a potentially unsettling or life-changing truth, or remaining in contented ignorance.

God is our highest being,
which is consciousness that is unadulterated.
Utterly complete.

Everything Is A Display In The Mind

Everything that we experience is witnessed in the mind by consciousness. We are consciousness, pure and simple. What else can we be? Thoughts are merely transient impressions. If consciousness identifies with these impressions, we become caught and held … until we let go. If we don’t let go, we are sentenced to stay that way, believing everything to be absolutely real.

There are many theories about truth, but these are all ideas to which we relate. Absolute truth is that which sees these relative impressions. That is pure consciousness.

Once we understand how the mind works – being governed by attraction, repulsion and indifference – that very understanding creates empathetic compassion through generosity, patience, morality, discipline, concentration and, ultimately, transcendent wisdom. That wisdom is by virtue of pure consciousness. We can realise pure consciousness first, and then the other qualities come into play naturally. That is the Dzogchen way.

Belief is accepting something to be real or true without proof. If we accept the impressions in the mind as being real, we will remain deluded by beliefs.

Why is the fact that everything we experience is displayed in the mind so important? Because we stop believing it all to be true, and take a softer approach to everyone – and ourselves.

In other words, we smile more.
🙂

It’s a stupid world.
When we realise this, everything makes sense.
😀